Conor McGregor Way Off On Contract Callout? Eddie Alvarez Likely Making 'Millions' For UFC 205

Exactly one week ago at The Theater in Madison Square Garden, Conor McGregor took aim at upcoming opponent Eddie Alvarez throughout the UFC 205 press conference. One of the more entertaining barbs McGregor directed at Alvarez was in regards to the UFC lightweight champion’s contract negotiations for the landmark New York card.

"He got (the fight) done by signing his last contract,” McGregor said of Alvarez. “He didn’t even negotiate new money for himself.

"Everyone in the game wants this fight. This is the lottery fight. And this man took it on his last contract. Imagine that. Imagine getting the biggest fight in the history of the game and saying: ‘Shut your mouth, kid. You'll get paid what you got your last fight and you’re lucky you're even getting that.’”

At the time, Alvarez responded by saying he was “OK with the money ... cause this guy’s easy money.” In Monday’s MMA Hour podcast, “The Underground King” echoed the stance he took at last Tuesday’s presser and shined a little more light on the situation.

“I’m happy with the money I’m ready to make,” Alvarez said. “I think you have to be able to earn the right to draw a line in the sand and be able to say, ‘This is what I want.’ And I think fighters need to be prepared to walk if that’s the case.

"It wasn’t one I was willing to walk away from at this time. I wasn’t going to sit there and nickel and dime the UFC about negotiating the deal. The deal was good.”

How good? When asked for a ballpark figure by host Ariel Helwani, Alvarez said that his payday will be worth “millions.” With that answer, Alvarez contradicted the crux of McGregor’s criticism. Specifically, that he was going to be compensated at the same rate because he chose not to renegotiate the pact he had in place.

The thing is, Alvarez probably didn't have to. His old contract should already have done the work for him.

Details of Eddie Alvarez's initial UFC contract were released when Bellator took him to court in 2013. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

The Philadelphia native only pocketed $150,000 for his last fight — an upset victory over reigning 155-pound champion Rafael dos Anjos. Now that he has UFC gold, however, it’s a near certainty that Alvarez will receive a cut of pay-per-view revenue. Though not all UFC champions have PPV points built into their contract — Demetrious Johnson being the highest-profile example — there’s good reason to believe that Alvarez does.

In 2013, details of his initial UFC contract offer were made available when Bellator chose to match the deal, and subsequently took him to court for refusing to sign. The contract included “$1 for each 'buy' between 200,000 and 400,000 buys, $2 per buy between 400,000 and 600,000 buys and $2.50 per buy over 600,000 buys” anytime Alvarez was on a PPV broadcast, champion or not. In addition, his fight purses for the eight-fight deal were “$70,000 to show, $70,000 to win and raises in $5,000 increments with each win.”

Alvarez was eventually granted an unconditional release from Bellator and signed a new deal with the UFC in 2014. The terms of the new contract were not disclosed, but Alvarez told ESPN.com it was comparable to the 2012 deal, if not better. Given that his fight purses in the UFC thus far ($100K, $100K, $150K) are not far off the modest figures in the first contract, it’s fair to assume that Alvarez’s PPV points are at least in a similar range.

Even with Alvarez’s disclosed purse remaining in the low six-figures, conservative PPV estimates (1.5 million buys at $1-$2.50) would see the lightweight champion earn close to $3 million for his main event with McGregor. More generous PPV estimates (1.6-1.9 million buys) would push his payout closer to $4 million. And again, we’re using the points scale laid out in Alvarez’s 2012 contract — dollar amounts that could very well have gone up in the 2014 deal.

So barring an unforeseen contract pitfall, it appears that Alvarez still made good on this "lottery fight" — making millions, as he should with the UFC's top draw driving PPV sales.